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Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 852: 20th June 2026. How can we solve the NEET or Economic Inactivity Crisis, when there are 707,000 vacancies for 3.2 Million People in need of job opportunities?
This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here's a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles from sector influencers and thought leaders across FE and Skills this week on FE News.
Upcoming national day to celebrate vocational learning
Save the date for Vocational Celebration Day on 6 August 2026, led by Enginuity and EAL — a national campaign celebrating the value and impact of vocational and technical learning. Organisations, educators and individuals can now get involved and show their support by downloading the FREE campaign pack and joining the celebration.
Gavin’s Reflective Perspective
Another busy week in the world of FE, Skills and Employability. The latest ONS Labour Market data came out this week. Vacancies have declined to their lowest level since 2021 at 707,000. That's for the entire labour market.
We have over 1 Million NEETs. Connect to Work highlighted some great progress last week, 14,000 disabled people or those with health conditions being supported back towards employment. The same DWP release flagged that 2.8 million people are currently out of work due to ill-health.
Now, let's give it the benefit of the doubt. A chunk of that 1 million NEETs will already be wrapped inside the 2.8 million figure, because the latest ONS data shows 613,000 of those NEETs are economically inactive. Strip out roughly 600,000, add the remaining 400,000 to the 2.8 million economically inactive due to ill-health... You get 3.2 million people.
707,000 vacancies. 3.2 million people. That's one job for every 4.5 people in this bracket.
Those 707,000 vacancies are for the entire labour market. Not ring-fenced for NEETs. Not reserved for those returning from ill-health. For everyone. No wonder young people say they feel dejected. No wonder they apply for hundreds of jobs and hear nothing back. The maths tells you exactly why.
How do we increase the number of vacancies to meet jobseeker need?
What is the Government doing, systems thinking-wise, to actually increase the number of vacancies available? How are we supporting employers to expand, to take risk, to bring new people into their teams? How are we backing SMEs in particular?
We can build the coolest employability programmes imaginable. We can get the qualifications right, the skills aligned, the provision in the right place at the right time... but if the vacancy pool doesn't grow, we're not solving the problem. We may just be managing it. Maybe a major part of the NEET puzzle is helping employers to grow, expand the need for more people, and create the correct growth environment. This needs proper systems thinking.
When economic inactivity due to ill-health costs £212 billion per year in welfare alone, when 1 million NEETs costs £125 billion in welfare costs per year (with a net £38 billion gain to the economy if those same young people were working)... the ONS figures are clear. There are only 707,000 vacancies in total. Something needs to be done on the supply side. Creating a genuine growth environment for employers, particularly SMEs, has to be part of the conversation.
Are we at risk of creating a genuinely hopeless situation for those already NEET, or trying to find their way back into work? That's not a rhetorical question. The numbers suggest we need an answer.
For me, it appears crystal clear. FE and Skills, the future of employability, is about developing the right skills to meet employer demand. The bigger question is how we also create the conditions for employer demand to grow... because that pays dividends in productivity, in tax receipts, in funding the public services we all need.
Loads of great articles in this edition, plus two brilliant videos from Breaking Barriers landing next week.
Thank you to Enginuity and EAL for sponsoring FE Soundbite this week, how are you celebrating Vocational Celebration Day on the 6th August?
Epic Exclusives Thought Leadership Articles
Our Top 3 Thought Leadership Articles This Week
Firstly, Britain’s skills gap won’t be solved by narrowing opportunity, it will be solved by widening it By Claire Bennison, AAT Executive Director of Customer, Partnerships and Innovation
Secondly, Why the youth jobs crisis is really a skills mismatch By Jeanette Wheeler, Chief People Officer, MHR
Finally, Young People, Work, and the Risk of Solving the Wrong Problem By Emma Beal, CEO, Skills and Education Group
This week, we also had some other Epic Exclusives!
Taking Apart the Youth Employment System: Three Lessons from Breaking Barriers By Baz Ramaiah, Director of Policy and Research at Youth Employment UK
The NEET Diagnosis is Shocking, it’s Time for Action not Rhetoric By Dr Paul Tully is the Chief Executive of FEthink
Britain’s Young People are Losing Faith in their Future By Jamie O’Halloran, senior research fellow at IPPR
Academic Blind Spots and the Six-Point Check: Widening Access, Retention and Employability for the Next Generation of Leaders By Afzal Sayed Munna, Senior Lecturer at University of Hull London
What’s New in the World of FE?
Learning for a Changing World: Ep 2 Never too Late to Learn By NCFE
Announcements
The Quality Professionals Awards 2026 Winners Revealed By SDN Mesma
PeopleCert and City & Guilds Internal Investigation is Concluded
Young People Bear the Brunt as Labour Market Softens, latest ONS data shows
Almost 180 More Youth Hubs Announced. Expanding The Youth Hub Network To Over 360 Local Areas In Three Years By Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Enrichment Framework: Government Pledges £132.5m to End the Postcode Lottery By the Department for Education (DfE)
Skills England Publishes Operational Rulebook for Reformed Apprenticeship Assessment By Skills England
Colleges step into Digitally-Driven Future with new AoC and Ufi VocTech Roadmap By the Association of Colleges (AoC)
£13.5 Million For Six Former Coalfield Areas to Create Jobs and Industrial Space By HM Treasury
Reports
To tackle the NEET crisis, FE and employer relations need investment, says AoC By the Association of Colleges (AoC)
New Research Launched to Understand Misogyny Faced by Female Apprentices in Yorkshire By Yorkshire Learning Providers
Interviews
Praful Nargund Discusses Breaking Barriers to Youth Employment and Youth Engagement
Olly Newton: Why Systems Thinking Is The Key To Breaking Barriers For 1 Million Young People
Amy Harcourt Shares Insights From A Young Person’s Perspective On How To Break Down Barriers Into Work for Young People
Ayesha Baloch From Impetus Discusses The Importance Of Reaching ‘Hidden NEETs’ To Break Barriers into Employment
Voices
Why Colleges now play a far Bigger role in Keeping Young People Safe By Gill Worgan CBE, Principal and CEO at West Herts College Group
Sustainability must be built in, Not Bolted on By Jack Plummer, Assistant Director of Capital Projects, London South East Colleges
Beyond the Ban: What Young People need from Education in the Age of Social Media By Kim Blanchard, Interim Group Director of Digital Education and AI at Activate Learning
When Degree Value Is Questioned, Apprenticeships Need Better Recognition By Harry Hobbs, Head of Business Intelligence at Baltic Apprenticeships
Cutting Management Apprenticeships ‘Will hit Those who Benefit Most’ By Becky Newell, Managing Director of Learnmore Network
What I’d like Educators to Know as an Entrepreneur with Late-Diagnosed Dyslexia By Ross Linnett, the CEO of Recite Me
In The Know
Thursday we have the final episode of Learning for a changing World, Ep 3 is AI, Automation and the Skills Reset
By Danny O’Meara, Operations Manager, FE News and | 